


Arrows were falling

by Meelah



Series: Krem Story Time [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Mild Gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 06:07:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5817034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meelah/pseuds/Meelah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Krem takes care of an injured friend.</p><p>Prompt: sick fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arrows were falling

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to write something horribly depressing but it came out... kinda cute?

If you're going to be separated from the group with someone who's wounded, it's good to be separated with your healer. What is not good though, is if the one wounded _is_ your healer, even worse still when you don't know if you've been merely separated from your group or if you are in fact the last of the group.

Krem flings Stitches' arm around his shoulder and half drags, half carries the other man up the stairs of the ruined house they've been taking shelter in. It had been a trap, a very clever one too, and they had played right into the Venatori's hands. 

"Stay with me," Krem hisses, near missing a step because Stitches' leg gives out, almost collapsing, and only saved by the wall.

Stitches grunts and staggers, then they finally slump on the top of the stairs.

"Shit shit," Krem breathes, rolling Stitches over. "What do I do?"

"H-have to pull the arrow out," Stitches' breath comes in huffs. "Stop the bleeding."

"Right," Krem says, grimacing, hand ghosting the arrow. "Riiight, okay. You got bandages or something in your bag?"

He doesn't wait for an answer, instead he goes for it and luck is with them because Stitches hadn't had time to unstrap his first air kit from his belt. Bandages, salve, even a small potion.

"Ookay. Okay, breathe," Krem says, half to himself. "Steady now, this is gonna hurt."

"You have... terrible bedside manners," Stitches grunts, gritting his teeth together.

"I'm gonna pull it out, and then... you're gonna drink this, okay?" Krem says handing Stitches the potion, wrapping the man's fingers around it and twisting the cap off. "We only have that one, so don't drop it."

Stitches nods and grips the bottle in his fist. It's not the first time Krem's seen this done, but it's the first time he's doing it by himself. He's not squeamish about blood, army has taught him better than that, but there's too much blood here even for his liking. He gets the bandages ready, and takes hold of the arrow.

"Ready?" he asks and not waiting for an answer and pulls.

Stitches screams and then slams a hand on his mouth to muffle it. Krem discards the arrow and pushes a roll of bandages to the wound and presses is into place with his both hands. Stitches is gasping for breath his fingers are going slack around the potion so Krem shoves him with his knee.

"Stitches!" he snaps. "The potion! Drink it!"

Stitches blinks and his fingers are working again, he takes the potion to his lips and drinks. The green light flickers for a second or two and Krem listens to his friends' breathing, willing it to stabilise while keeping the pressure steady.

"Work work _work_ , dammit..." he murmurs under his breath, counting the seconds, and finally, the blood stops trickling out of the wound. "Oh fuck, thank the Maker..." he hisses relieved, easing the pressure gently. "I did _not_ want to have to try resuscitation on your ugly ass."

"That's not... how resuscitation works," Stitches mutters, still pale but looking considerably more stable.

Krem gives himself permission to laugh, but the situation was a far closer shave than he likes them.

"How you feeling?" he asks. "Lay down or try sitting up?"

"Oh I'm just fine right here," Stitches says, blinking slowly. "Just great. Maybe you should go and check if you can see the Chief or the others."

"I think it's better if we lay low for a bit longer," Krem says, cocking his head listening to the sounds of the distant fighting. "At least someone is still alive."

They look at each other.

"The Chief," they say almost unanimously and Krem smiles.

There's distinct terrified screaming and Krem nods a little. 

"Sounds like Pavus..." he says and then there's a sound of a fleshy explosion and Krem scrunches his nose. "Oh, definitely him."

"Ugh," Stitches says. "No matter how many times I see it, it's always just as disgusting."

"Yeah," Krem nods, leaning to sit against the wall, hand looking for a water bottle but he'd just removed his pack when their camp had been attacked. "I think we're gonna be just fine."

But his gut feels heavy, that familiar trepidation gnawing at him that he gets when he doesn't know if everyone is safe yet. He told the Chief about it once and the man had nodded replying with a satisfied _"Good. Means you're a good commander, worrying about your men."_ Doesn't make it any easier, though, and for a fleeting moment Krem wonders if that's how the Chief feels right now, with them out of sight.

After another ten minutes the sounds of the battle seem to die down. Krem is still keeping eye on Stitches and every time the man closes his eyes Krem starts talking so that he has to open them again. The potion has done what it can, but the healer is far from well, and Krem has seen men in far better condition close their eyes and just slip away during the night. 

"You should go and find them," Stitches murmurs, licking his pale lips.

"And leave you to be eaten by the wolves?" Krem smirks. "Chief would make me peel potatoes for a week."

He has no intention of leaving Stitches here alone, wolves or not, but Krem is getting antsy, slowly standing up. 

"I heard you've been hanging around at Skyhold infirmary a lot," he says, stretching. "Cute nurses or do you actually think they know something better than you?"

"They hardly know their asses from their elbows," Stitches frowns.

"Nurses, then?" Krem asks, going down the stairs but looking up at Stitches. "Keep talking, I'll just quickly look out if I can see anything."

"There is this one…" Stitches says and closes his eyes. "This one nurse, Arabella is her name…"

"Fancy, fancy," Krem says, taking cover behind a broken wall before slowly peeking out. "What she look like?"

"Looks aren't _everything_ , Cremisius, you should know," Stitches says and while Krem can't see him anymore he can hear the smile in his voice. "It's her voice, the way she talks…"

"So maybe _she_ can teach you bedside manners," Krem calls him, still seeing nothing. "Somebody gotta. Or something else to do with beds."

"Piss off," Stitches replies, his voice more dreamy now. "Arabella isn't like that. She's a sweet girl. But _you_ wouldn't know. "

"Oh I know, that's why you got yourself shot, you want her to nurse you back to health," Krem suggests. "I thought you were just stupid to take that hit, but that's actually pretty clever."

He doesn't wait for a reply this time because he sees a top of a staff with a skull on it, so he steps out of the ruins. 

"Over here Pavus!" he calls. "Need help with Stitches!"

Not a moment too soon, either, as when they get back to the man he's unconscious though still breathing. Pavus' rudimentary healing spells bring him back in the nick of time, even though the way Stitches tells the story afterwards, he had woken up to the necromancer's face staring at him mere inches away, and had been sure he had been resurrected by his evil spells to do his bidding. Krem doesn't bother correcting him for the story's sake, though he makes sure the Chief gets the real report about the mage's spells. 

Even though Stitches is able to ride back to Skyhold, he sees it best to get checked over by the nurses in the infirmary, _"just to be sure"_. Krem leans at the door frame, grinning while watching as stammering Stitches take off his shirt in front of Arabella. And finally everyone is safe.


End file.
